Wushu and sports event photography

Among the many other things we’ve been doing recently, last weekend involved a trip to the 17th Annual Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament. This event is the largest of its kind in the U.S., and draws competitors from all over the nation and internationally. With over twelve hours of wushu and taichi competition events for all ages, we saw plenty of high-flying, powerful, and graceful martial arts performances!

After all the positive experiences that wushu has brought to my life, it’s a pleasure to offer these photos, and give a little something back to the wushu community. Over 300 images are available in our proofs galleries, and here are just a few highlights from an amazing day of competition!

This is just the beginning of another season of sports, so you’ll also be seeing us at athletic events to come, such as the Eugene Marathon and Portland Marathon. Stay tuned!

Enko Photography – event and athletic photography based in Portland, Oregon

Marathon runner

Here’s another photo from one of our athletic shoots a few weeks ago. This woman’s background as a marathon runner meant that she’d explored quite a lot of beautiful country–when you’re logging so many miles, you want to have something nice to look at–so it seemed fitting to follow her lead on where to shoot! The location you see in the background is her favorite spot along her regular route, and the fact that it was both a beautiful and personal location for her made it the perfect place to shoot her doing what she loves.

Model: Cara (SportsUnlimited)

Enko Photography – commercial and athletic photography based in Portland, Oregon

A Few More Good Days

Another athletic shot from a couple of days ago, this time at one of the wooded trails in Forest Park. Portland has some truly amazing natural areas, and Forest Park is known as the largest, forested natural area within city limits in the United States. There are plenty of trails there to explore, and we’ve only just scratched the surface on our own explorations.

We were originally scheduled to shoot this a few days earlier, but the rain came on an hour before the shoot, so we had to reschedule. We were a little concerned that the rainy Oregon autumn might have hit us for the long haul, but we got to enjoy a few more gorgeous days of sun over the weekend.

Model: Kent (Q6)

 

Kent will be sending in this image for a casting this week… best of luck to him!

Enko Photography – commercial and athletic photography based in Portland, Oregon

Athletic Photography

Athletics and the outdoors are big here in the Northwest, so we thought it’d be fun to work with athletes on some new photos. So far, we’ve worked with two runners, and they were both fantastic, and had endurance to spare.

Here’s a shot from last week, before any post-processing. There were quite a few good ones, so it’ll be a challenge deciding what to process first!

Model: Cara (SportsUnlimited)

Enko Photography – commercial and athletic photography based in Portland, Oregon

A High-Flying Event: US Wushu Center

Enko was on hand this past Sunday at NW Portland’s US Wushu Center, for their post-remodeling, Grand Opening Celebration. They’ve been running an extensive program in T’ai Chi and Wushu for 12 years, but the Grand Opening included an unveiling of the new facilities, and the introduction of a new Chinese language program.

Needless to say, it was an exciting time for everyone in the school, and the event included a performance from their demo team. It was a treat to see the diverse group of practitioners performing slow and controlled arts, as well as fast-kicking, high-flying acrobatics. There’s definitely room for people of all ages!

A few favorites are here on the blog, of course… the rest are available online.

If you’re interested in martial arts, be sure to check out the school. They have some of the most talented and renowned Chinese martial arts instructors Portland has to offer, so rest assured, they really know their stuff.

Enko Photography – event and wedding photography serving Portland, Oregon